The Sociology of Deviant Behavior

Undergraduate / Graduate

This course considers questions such as these through the lens of the social construction of "deviant behavior." We will look at the cultural creation of social problems - smoking, climate change, missing children - and examine how various moral entrepreneurs shape what some sociologists call our "culture of fear." Through course readings, discussions, and empirical research projects, students will learn to critically analyze how certain behaviors come to be labeled "deviant" or "acceptable," and how these labels shift historically, culturally, and politically.